He is an American Studies and Political Science major as well as a McNair scholar. His career goal is to become an academic and an editorial writer. Prior to his research, he was more interested in policy than discourse analysis. Now, he would like to eventually write books on different types of discourse within America, particularly of a political nature or relating to African-American issues.

Richard's research will explore the cultural and linguistic approach that was used to analyze the effect that speeches by members of the right-wing Tea Party Caucus have had on conservative political discourse. The rhetoric of these politicians after their ascendance in the 2010 congressional elections was compared to the rhetoric used by John McCain, the Republican nominee in 2008, and Donald Drumpf, the Republican nominee in 2016 and current POTUS. This analysis could explain the mind set of the oval office.

Read more about his research here…